Oxnard Airport is a county-owned, public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

a mile west of downtown

Oxnard Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

, in

Ventura County Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...

, California. The airport has not had scheduled passenger service since June 8, 2010, when

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

(operated via a code sharing agreement with

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

by SkyWest Airlines) ended flights to Los Angeles International Airport.

America West Express America West Express was the brand name for America West Airlines commuter and regional flights operated by Mesa Air Group's Mesa Airlines under a code share agreement. Today Mesa Airlines operates for American Eagle. Mesa Airlines operated Am ...

also served the airport with nonstop flights to Phoenix in the early-2000s via a code sharing agreement with

America West Airlines America West Airlines was a major American airline, founded in 1981, with service commencing in 1983, and having reached US$1 billion in annual revenue in 1989, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. At the time of its acquisition of US Airways, Americ ...

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

records say the airport had 15,961 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 12,060 in 2009 and 4,074 in 2010. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a ''primary commercial service'' airport based on enplanements in 2008 (over 10,000 per year). By the time of the next NPIAS report, for 2015–2019, Oxnard Airport had been downgraded to a regional

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

airport with only 19 enplanements.

History

Ventura County opened Oxnard Airport in 1934 by clearing a 3,500 ft dirt

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

. In the 1930s aviator

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

erected a tent at the airport to shelter his famous H-1 monoplane racer, which he tested from the dirt strip. In 1938 Ventura County paved the dirt runway and built a large

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

. In 1939 James McLean opened the Oxnard Flying School with a

Piper J-3 Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is Pi ...

and a Kinner 2-seat airplane. Housing was built nearby for instructors and students at the school. In late 1941, the airport was assigned to the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

until the Naval Air Station at

Point Mugu Point Mugu (, Chumash: ''Muwu'') is a cape or promontory within Point Mugu State Park on the Pacific Coast in Ventura County, near the city of Port Hueneme and the city of Oxnard. The name is believed to be derived from the Chumash Indian term ...

could be completed. The Navy moved to

NAS Point Mugu Naval Air Station Point Mugu was a United States naval air station near Oxnard, California, which operated as an independent base from 1941 to 2000, when it merged with nearby Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme to form Naval Base V ...

in 1945 and the Oxnard Flying School returned to the airport. Ventura County regained control of the airport in 1948, receiving a final

quitclaim deed Generally, a quitclaim is a formal renunciation of a legal claim against some other person, or of a right to land. A person who quitclaims renounces or relinquishes a claim to some legal right, or transfers a legal interest in land. Originally a c ...

. The state of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

issued the airport an operating permit in 1949.

Past airline service

Scheduled airline service started in 1946 with Southwest Airways flying Douglas DC-3s on a multi-stop route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Southwest then changed its name to

Pacific Air Lines Pacific Air Lines was a regional airline (then called a "local service" air carrier as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid 1940s under the name ...

which in turn began operating

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G ( ...

prop aircraft followed by

Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...

turboprops into the airport. In 1968 Pacific merged with

Bonanza Air Lines Bonanza Air Lines was an airline (known at the time as a "local service" air carrier as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) in the Western United States (and eventually Mexico) from 1945 until it merged with two other local service ai ...

and West Coast Airlines to form

Air West Air West is an airline based in Khartoum, Sudan. It operates domestic passenger services and international cargo charters. Its main base is Khartoum International Airport, with a hub at Sharjah International Airport. This airline has no connect ...

which was subsequently renamed

Hughes Airwest Hughes Airwest was a regional airline in the western United States, backed by Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation. Its original name in 1968 was Air West and the air carrier was owned by Nick Bez. Hughes Airwest flew routes in the wes ...

which in turn continued to serve Oxnard with F-27s. Also in 1968, Cable Commuter Airlines was operating de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter service to

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

Hughes Airwest ended all service to Oxnard in the early 1970s and was then replaced by

Golden West Airlines Golden West Airlines was a commuter airline that operated flights on a high volume schedule in California. It ceased operations in 1983. History The original Golden West Airlines, headquartered at Van Nuys, California, was founded in 1968 a ...

and other commuter air carriers. Golden West operated de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and

Short 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...

turboprops nonstop to Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego and Santa Barbara. Other service included Wings West with

Beech 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...

turboprops to Los Angeles and Desert Pacific Airlines flying

Piper Piper may refer to: People * Piper (given name) * Piper (surname) Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Comics * Piper (Morlock), in the Marvel Universe * Piper (Mutate), in the Marvel Universe Television * Piper Chapman, lea ...

twin prop aircraft nonstop to San Francisco, Sacramento and Las Vegas. By 1980,

Golden Gate Airlines Golden Gate Airlines was a United States regional airline founded in 1980 in Monterey, California after the merger of Gem State Airlines and Air Pacific (USA) in 1979. It merged again in 1981, this time with Swift Aire Lines, but discontinued ...

was operating nonstop service to Bakersfield, Las Vegas, Monterey, and Santa Barbara with direct service to San Francisco. Also in 1980, Santa Barbara-based Apollo Airways was operating nine nonstop flights every weekday with

Handley Page Jetstream The Handley Page HP.137 Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage. The aircraft was designed to meet the requirements of the United States commuter and regional airline market. The design was later improved and bu ...

commuter propjets from Santa Barbara (SBA) with direct connecting service from Bakersfield (BFL), Fresno (FAT), Las Vegas (LAS), Monterey (MRY), Oakland (OAK), Sacramento (SMF), San Francisco ( SFO) and San Jose (SJC) via Santa Barbara. In 1981, two airlines were serving the airport according to the

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight st ...

(OAG): Golden West Airlines with ten nonstop flights every weekday from Los Angeles (

) plus two nonstop flights every weekday from San Diego (SAN) primarily flown with Twin Otter aircraft with some flights being operated with the Short 330, and Apollo Airways operating Handley Page Jetstreams with five nonstop flights every weekday from Santa Barbara (SBA) with this Apollo service featuring connecting flights via Santa Barbara from the California cities of Bakersfield (BFL), Fresno (FAT), Monterey (MRY), Oakland (OAK), Sacramento (SMF), San Francisco ( SFO) and San Jose (SJC). Oxnard never received scheduled jet service; however, the airport did have

Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series of ...

propjet service operated by WestAir as

nonstop to San Francisco in the 1990s. Most service was operated to LAX with a few flights to Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and other cities at this time. In 1985, Evergreen Airspur, a division of

Evergreen International Airlines Evergreen International Airlines was a charter and cargo airline based in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. Wholly owned by Evergreen International Aviation, it had longstanding ties to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It operated co ...

, was operating de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters to LAX. In 1987 Resort Commuter Airlines was operating nonstop service to LAX as a

Trans World Express Trans World Express (TWE) was the fully owned and certificated, regional carrier for Trans World Airlines ( TWA) and an airline trademark name for TWA's corporation. * Trans World Express - The formerly independent regional airline known as Ran ...

air carrier on behalf of Trans World Airlines (

TWA Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

). By 1988 Qwest Air was flying nonstop service to San Diego (SAN) and Sacramento (SMF) with

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 19 ...

commuter turboprops. Also during the late 1980s into the mid 1990s, two airlines were flying Oxnard-LAX service:

American Eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

operated by Wings West flying

Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

propjets and

operated by WestAir flying

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...

BAe Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin- turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...

propjets. The United Express service would later be taken over by SkyWest Airlines with this airline operating

s. United Express subsequently ended all scheduled passenger flights at the airport and Oxnard no longer has passenger airline service but is served by two cargo airlines. California Air Shuttle was a commuter airline based at the Oxnard Airport. In 1990, it briefly operated nonstop service with a

Swearingen Metro II The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

propjet aircraft between the airport and Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento. This new start-up air carrier quickly went out of business.

Facilities and aircraft

Oxnard Airport covers 230 acres (93 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of 45 feet (14 m) above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

. Its one

, 7/25, is 5,953 by 100 feet (1,814 x 30 m) asphalt. In 2010 the airport had 55,323 aircraft operations, average 151 per day: 92%

, 8%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, and <1%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. 157 aircraft were then based at this airport: 79% single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

, 17% multi-engine, and 5%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

Incidents

A single-engine Mooney M20C private plane crashed on July 10, 2022 into the airport fence along South Ventura Road during final approach while attempting to land. The pilot had minor injuries and the road was closed until the damaged plane could be removed. The fire department reported that the pilot got out of the aircraft on his own and that a fuel spill had occurred.

References

External links

Oxnard Airport
at Ventura County web site
General Information for Airport Users

Oxnard Airport Association

Aspen Helicopters
(also known as the Oxnard Jet Center) is a

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, ...

(FBO) located at the airport.
Golden West Jet Centers: Oxnard
is an Oxnard-based FBO
Light Helicopter Depot: Oxnard
is an Oxnard-based Robinson Helicopter Overhaul Facility
Aerial image as of September 1994
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to pro ...

'' * * {{Oxnard, California
Airports in Ventura County, California County airports in California Airports established in 1934 Transportation in Oxnard, California Buildings and structures in Oxnard, California 1934 establishments in California